charger question

[Imfallen_Angel]

Well, trustable or otherwise, I personally take the cautious approach when charging lithium ion batteries. I'll trust a standalone charger for those batteries before I use a usb port to do the same. I suppose most have those ports and charging abilities for use in a pinch, when you have no other option (other than higher end DNA/Yihi/Omni board mods that have true balanced charging) It has more to do with the chemistry of said batteries and the dangers of using imbalanced lithium ion batteries than anything else.

Sorry, got to disagree here.. I've been charging my dual mods for over a year, and my previous single for over 2 years, and it's all been good every time I've tested my batteries.

It's a notion that needs to die already.

Going with it means that EVERY cell phone, tablet, power tool, laptop, etc. that all uses lithium batteries would all be blowing up. And most that have, it's been a battery thing that would have blown up in a charger anyways.

 

[DaveP]

Finally got a charger for my batteries its a nitecore intellicharger new i4 my only question is knowing it knows when to stop charging if I'm not around to take the batteries out of the charger can they stay in there ?

The i4 will stop with all LEDs in a bay lighted (not flashing) when charging is complete.

Charger failures are few and far between. Battery blowups due to dendrite formation are the usual cause of battery explosions and fire. Granted, you are probably more likely to have a car wreck or some other catastrophe than have a battery explode and start a fire in your house, but it happens. That's why the instructions usually include a warning not to leave batteries charging unattended.

Most of us here don't trust chargers or batteries and don't leave them unattended while they are actually charging. The issue is dendrite formation. Dendrites are little metallic threads that grow over time inside lithium ion batteries as a result of their chemistry. If one grows outward through the electrolyte and touches the case, the battery pops or explodes and spews hot electrolyte. That's why we charge when we are around to do something about it, should it happen.

Most Li-on batteries don't experience catastrophic failure, but the 1 in however many that do are dangerous if you are close to them when it happens. They become roman candles.

Good info here.
Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries

 

[Eskie]

At this point, it's more a question of letting go the old notions.... they are as valid as the car myths about that magical water carburetor and such.

Wait. What? That's not true?

I will hold onto my notion that the $1.49 12V usb car charger you can get at the gas station will not come near me and my mods or batteries (and phones for that matter). Still plenty of cheap junk that reaches our stores. And no worries about lawsuits when you're a no name company in Shenzhen.

 

[mongo74]

Like Dave said, my point was not leaving charging batteries unattended.

We can all agree to disagree. There's nothing wrong with err'ing on the side of caution. To each their own.

 

[mongo74]

To add: another notion that needs to die already:

It hasn't happened to me, so it won't happen to anyone else.

 

[Eskie]

To add: another notion that needs to die already:

It hasn't happened to me, so it won't happen to anyone else.

That, and it's always important to pay those homeowner insurance policies on time.

 

[Lessifer]

Sorry, got to disagree here.. I've been charging my dual mods for over a year, and my previous single for over 2 years, and it's all been good every time I've tested my batteries.

It's a notion that needs to die already.

Going with it means that EVERY cell phone, tablet, power tool, laptop, etc. that all uses lithium batteries would all be blowing up. And most that have, it's been a battery thing that would have blown up in a charger anyways.

Not counting mods that use low quality internals, I always thought the reason for not using the onboard charger was to save the port. That tends to be the first thing to wear out on my electronics, mostly because my kid is not gentle when she unplugs things.

 

[Imfallen_Angel]

Like Dave said, my point was not leaving charging batteries unattended.

We can all agree to disagree. There's nothing wrong with err'ing on the side of caution. To each their own.

No problem, I understand your point, but the thing is, I've seen batteries that were in a drawer, on a shelf that simply ruptured/vented for no other reason than the chemicals inside it simply became unstable... (and there's a list of possibilities to why they did)

There's no real err'ing on side of caution to use the devices as they are meant to be used, the most important thing is just not doing anything stupid that could short them, but it still remains that they could still pop anytime, and it wouldn't be the charger, the mod or anything... just a manufacturing defect that gave out at the wrong time, wrong place.

Again, the "risk" is calculated, cell phones being the closest "cousins" to mods, and they are constantly charged via USB, they are constantly left to charge overnight, sometimes days, weeks, and that's rarely been the reason for a phone to blow up, it's almost is due to a defect and a massive user error.

That would be like me asking you, why aren't you unplugging your car battery at night and putting it in a safety drawer? There's a possibility of a short that might cause the gas to be ignited... but the reality is... the odds are so small that it's comparing it to getting hit by 5 lightning bolts simultaneously while riding a bull on it's exact birthday to the second during an total eclipse of the sun. So for precaution, we kill all the bulls in a 5 thousand mile radius, blow the sun up and wear a rubber suit 24/7?

 

[Imfallen_Angel]

Not counting mods that use low quality internals, I always thought the reason for not using the onboard charger was to save the port. That tends to be the first thing to wear out on my electronics, mostly because my kid is not gentle when she unplugs things.

Yes and no...

Trouble is, every time you pop the batteries in and out you (to play devil's advocate):

1) wear the contacts of the mod (which can lead to failure)
2) if a slide or swing door, wear out the prongs, the support pins, the brackets, the hinges (which can lead to failure)
3) you rub the contacts against the battery's wrap and insulating ring, (which can lead to rips and possible short)
4) the loose batteries could end up touching something during the moment of transition and be shorted

So it's still a "risk" factor no matter how you cut it.

 

[Imfallen_Angel]

To add: another notion that needs to die already:

It hasn't happened to me, so it won't happen to anyone else.

Dear Penthouse forum, I never though it could really happen at all, let alone to me, but......

 

[mongo74]

There's a veritable risk factor to vaping in general. We're still using lithium ion batteries in a method they were not originally intended for. Again, my only point was not leaving charging batteries unattended. The car battery analogy isn't really as plausible compared to a battery venting in a mod. It can happen, but most car battery fires I'm aware of have occured under load.

 

[mongo74]

Dear Penthouse forum,

My toy caught on fire because I charged it inorrectly.

 

[SteveS45]

From working in IT for many years I have never seen a USB port on a PC, Smart phone, Printer or any USB device wear out! The only time a USB fails is from abuse or incorrect usage. I have seem many USB port ripped from main boards because someone decided to move the printer and not disconnect the cable.

 

[SteveS45]

I have seen a bad battery explode from the mechanic just hooking up jumper cables with NO Load just the small spark from hooking up the cable to the Negative Terminal from a booster pack.

 

[Imfallen_Angel]

That, and it's always important to pay those homeowner insurance policies on time.

heck, why car seats for kids, insurance for the house, the car on my life... I'm alive, the kids never ended up needing seats to save them, I haven't crashed a car in my life and my house has never burnt down.



But seriously, if my glasses didn't help me see correctly, my car didn't get me from point A to B, they wouldn't be doing what they are designed to do. These chargers are designed to charge the batteries properly and be as safe as possible.

Doesn't mean that I can't slip, break my glasses and stab my eyeball with a shard, but that's not what the glasses normally do, the odds of such an occurrence is very slim, and someone might do something to bypass the charger's safety would be like asking someone to hit me in the face with a baseball bat....just to increase the odds of that shard in the eyeball thing happening.

 

[Lessifer]

Yes and no...

Trouble is, every time you pop the batteries in and out you (to play devil's advocate):

1) wear the contacts of the mod (which can lead to failure)
2) if a slide or swing door, wear out the prongs, the support pins, the brackets, the hinges (which can lead to failure)
3) you rub the contacts against the battery's wrap and insulating ring, (which can lead to rips and possible short)
4) the loose batteries could end up touching something during the moment of transition and be shorted

So it's still a "risk" factor no matter how you cut it.

Eh, I use mechs with magnetic sliding doors and a spring for a contact.

From working in IT for many years I have never seen a USB port on a PC, Smart phone, Printer or any USB device wear out! The only time a USB fails is from abuse or incorrect usage. I have seem many USB port ripped from main boards because someone decided to move the printer and not disconnect the cable.

I don't know, my kid's Amazon Fire now only charges with 1 cable, every other cable gets a bad connection, though they work fine for other devices. Maybe it's the cable though.

 

[SteveS45]

I would hazard a guess that the USB cable was stressed while grabbing the device when still plugged in. I have done it myself and that is not wear it is abuse. I am still using the same USB cable from my first MOD for all of mine. Same PC's also to charge them...........

 

[Imfallen_Angel]

Dear Penthouse forum,

My toy caught on fire because I charged it inorrectly.

You used it with 240V you fool!

 

[Imfallen_Angel]

Eh, I use mechs with magnetic sliding doors and a spring for a contact.

I don't know, my kid's Amazon Fire now only charges with 1 cable, every other cable gets a bad connection, though they work fine for other devices. Maybe it's the cable though.

My mods (regulated) are all magnetic doors and almost all have good springloaded pins, so those aren't bad.. the one springs as the contact (CubeX2) just wants to eat the wraps for breakfast, worse part, it's the one mod I have that doesn't have onboard charging. (the irony)

And yeah, it's probably the cables, the only way that only "one" cable would work be that it might be larger and pushing at the right spot to force a bad contact to work... or something like that.

Get some streaming lit cables.. absolutely the best USB cables ever... you can SEE the power flowing.
(these guys: LED Visible Flow Light Micro USB Data Sync Charger Cable for Samsung iPhone CA | eBay)

 

[Eskie]

Oh geez, glowing cables.

I go with cables2go, generally good prices on decent stuff. On Amazon, I go with Amazon Basics. at least those are "certified" for compatibility and prices are OK. Honest, a $1 usb cable or wall wart can end up costing you a lot more than a $3 cable/wall wart if/when something goes south.